ID :
59819
Sat, 05/09/2009 - 21:38
Auther :
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https://oananews.org//node/59819
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3 Japanese infected with new flu in 1st cases in Japan
TOKYO, May 10 Kyodo -
Three Japanese males who arrived from the United States at Narita airport
Friday were confirmed to be infected with the new strain of influenza, marking
the first new-flu cases in Japan, health ministry officials said Saturday.
The three -- a 46-year-old high school teacher and two 16-year-old students
from Osaka -- had been staying in Oakville, Canada, on a school trip from April
24 and arrived at Narita, east of Tokyo, from Detroit at around 4:30 p.m.
Friday on a Northwest Airlines flight.
During a quarantine inspection upon landing, the three, who had developed
symptoms such as fever and coughing, tested positive for influenza A and were
taken to Japanese Red Cross Narita Hospital in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, where
they have been isolated.
The teacher had a fever of 38.6 C while the two students had temperatures of
36.6 C and 37.1 C as of Friday, and further examinations by the National
Institute of Infectious Diseases confirmed their infection with the new strain
of the H1N1 influenza A virus.
''They are the first patients within Japanese territory confirmed as being
infected with the disease,'' Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe
told a hastily called press conference.
Masuzoe said, however, that the cases were discovered before the three formally
entered Japan and so the situation does not call for the government's measures
to be taken in the event of an outbreak of the new flu in the country,
including asking people to avoid going outdoors as far as possible and
temporarily closing schools.
An official at the hospital where the patients are staying told reporters, ''As
we are taking every possible measure, I hope people feel secure.'' The health
ministry said in the evening the conditions of all three were stable as of
mid-afternoon with temperatures of over 38 C for the teacher and one of the
students and around 36 C for the other student.
Masuzoe said one of the students slipped through the quarantine inspection held
on board the plane upon arrival at Narita as he had no flu symptoms initially.
But after getting off the aircraft, he was questioned by airport officials
while making a transit and said he was feeling sick.
The ministry officials said 12 people who were seated near the three patients,
including four American students, were not detected and passed through
immigration checks as they were not detained for medical monitoring in the
onboard inspection.
The ministry had contacted all of them by late Saturday and the officials said
none of them complained of any health problems.
They also said another 13 passengers who may have been in close contact with
the patients have already left Japan for Thailand, Taiwan and other
destinations.
The ministry reported the development to the World Health Organization as
Japan's first cases of the new flu amid growing concerns that the disease may
spread within the country. The WHO later added Japan to its list of countries
that have reported laboratory confirmations of new flu cases.
Commenting on the first confirmed cases in Japan, WHO Acting Director General
Keiji Fukuda said in Geneva that the country should concentrate on efforts to
discover other cases of infection at the moment.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, meanwhile, said in-flight quarantine
inspections and other measures taken by his government had paid off in
detecting new flu infections at an airport.
''We were able to catch Japanese people who developed it (the new flu) abroad
at the airport upon their return,'' Aso said, noting they did not fall ill in
Japan.
He told reporters after touring an enterprise in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture,
that the government's measures to prevent the new flu from entering Japan have
''achieved some effects.''
The Northwest Airlines flight carried 388 passengers and 21 crew members, of
whom 49 people, including 33 who traveled together with the three patients, are
expected to stay at an accommodation facility near the airport for 10 days for
medical monitoring, according to Masuzoe.
Of the 49, seven people -- one male and six female students -- were taken to
three hospitals in Chiba Prefecture to be examined for infection with the new
flu as they have developed symptoms such as fever, coughing and sore throat,
but all of them have tested negative in preliminary examinations, according to
the hospitals. The seven were then transferred to an institution in the
prefecture for further tests.
Other passengers will also be required to go through follow-up checks at local
public health centers, Masuzoe told reporters.
''I hope people in Japan will stay calm,'' he said, adding that he wants the
flight's passengers to monitor their health conditions carefully for a period
of seven to 10 days after arrival and contact health authorities if they have
any problems.
Officials in Kyoto said 14 of the passengers -- 13 Americans and one Japanese
-- were staying in the city and showed no abnormalities in follow-up checks.
Four of them, all Americans who were found to have sat close to the patients,
were tested Saturday for the new flu but the results were negative. The four
were supposed to have been kept near Narita airport for medical monitoring,
according to the officials of the Kyoto municipal government.
Meanwhile, the central government confirmed at a meeting of its senior
officials that it would enhance preventive measures against the disease.
In other developments, a woman in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, suspected of
being infected with the new flu strain was confirmed as not having contracted
the disease as a result of a further test, prefectural and city authorities
said. The woman in her 30s returned from the United States on Wednesday.
Earlier, a 6-year-old Japanese boy living in Chicago became the first Japanese
national confirmed to have caught the new flu. With the confirmation of the
three cases at Narita, the number of confirmed Japanese patients of the illness
stands at four.
The boy in Chicago, a kindergartener, visited a hospital on Tuesday local time
after having a fever of more than 38 C and was confirmed to be infected with
the new flu on Thursday, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.
There were a number of cases in which people returning to Japan from trips
abroad during the Golden Week holidays tested positive for the influenza A
virus and later tested negative for the new strain.
==Kyodo
Three Japanese males who arrived from the United States at Narita airport
Friday were confirmed to be infected with the new strain of influenza, marking
the first new-flu cases in Japan, health ministry officials said Saturday.
The three -- a 46-year-old high school teacher and two 16-year-old students
from Osaka -- had been staying in Oakville, Canada, on a school trip from April
24 and arrived at Narita, east of Tokyo, from Detroit at around 4:30 p.m.
Friday on a Northwest Airlines flight.
During a quarantine inspection upon landing, the three, who had developed
symptoms such as fever and coughing, tested positive for influenza A and were
taken to Japanese Red Cross Narita Hospital in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, where
they have been isolated.
The teacher had a fever of 38.6 C while the two students had temperatures of
36.6 C and 37.1 C as of Friday, and further examinations by the National
Institute of Infectious Diseases confirmed their infection with the new strain
of the H1N1 influenza A virus.
''They are the first patients within Japanese territory confirmed as being
infected with the disease,'' Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe
told a hastily called press conference.
Masuzoe said, however, that the cases were discovered before the three formally
entered Japan and so the situation does not call for the government's measures
to be taken in the event of an outbreak of the new flu in the country,
including asking people to avoid going outdoors as far as possible and
temporarily closing schools.
An official at the hospital where the patients are staying told reporters, ''As
we are taking every possible measure, I hope people feel secure.'' The health
ministry said in the evening the conditions of all three were stable as of
mid-afternoon with temperatures of over 38 C for the teacher and one of the
students and around 36 C for the other student.
Masuzoe said one of the students slipped through the quarantine inspection held
on board the plane upon arrival at Narita as he had no flu symptoms initially.
But after getting off the aircraft, he was questioned by airport officials
while making a transit and said he was feeling sick.
The ministry officials said 12 people who were seated near the three patients,
including four American students, were not detected and passed through
immigration checks as they were not detained for medical monitoring in the
onboard inspection.
The ministry had contacted all of them by late Saturday and the officials said
none of them complained of any health problems.
They also said another 13 passengers who may have been in close contact with
the patients have already left Japan for Thailand, Taiwan and other
destinations.
The ministry reported the development to the World Health Organization as
Japan's first cases of the new flu amid growing concerns that the disease may
spread within the country. The WHO later added Japan to its list of countries
that have reported laboratory confirmations of new flu cases.
Commenting on the first confirmed cases in Japan, WHO Acting Director General
Keiji Fukuda said in Geneva that the country should concentrate on efforts to
discover other cases of infection at the moment.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, meanwhile, said in-flight quarantine
inspections and other measures taken by his government had paid off in
detecting new flu infections at an airport.
''We were able to catch Japanese people who developed it (the new flu) abroad
at the airport upon their return,'' Aso said, noting they did not fall ill in
Japan.
He told reporters after touring an enterprise in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture,
that the government's measures to prevent the new flu from entering Japan have
''achieved some effects.''
The Northwest Airlines flight carried 388 passengers and 21 crew members, of
whom 49 people, including 33 who traveled together with the three patients, are
expected to stay at an accommodation facility near the airport for 10 days for
medical monitoring, according to Masuzoe.
Of the 49, seven people -- one male and six female students -- were taken to
three hospitals in Chiba Prefecture to be examined for infection with the new
flu as they have developed symptoms such as fever, coughing and sore throat,
but all of them have tested negative in preliminary examinations, according to
the hospitals. The seven were then transferred to an institution in the
prefecture for further tests.
Other passengers will also be required to go through follow-up checks at local
public health centers, Masuzoe told reporters.
''I hope people in Japan will stay calm,'' he said, adding that he wants the
flight's passengers to monitor their health conditions carefully for a period
of seven to 10 days after arrival and contact health authorities if they have
any problems.
Officials in Kyoto said 14 of the passengers -- 13 Americans and one Japanese
-- were staying in the city and showed no abnormalities in follow-up checks.
Four of them, all Americans who were found to have sat close to the patients,
were tested Saturday for the new flu but the results were negative. The four
were supposed to have been kept near Narita airport for medical monitoring,
according to the officials of the Kyoto municipal government.
Meanwhile, the central government confirmed at a meeting of its senior
officials that it would enhance preventive measures against the disease.
In other developments, a woman in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, suspected of
being infected with the new flu strain was confirmed as not having contracted
the disease as a result of a further test, prefectural and city authorities
said. The woman in her 30s returned from the United States on Wednesday.
Earlier, a 6-year-old Japanese boy living in Chicago became the first Japanese
national confirmed to have caught the new flu. With the confirmation of the
three cases at Narita, the number of confirmed Japanese patients of the illness
stands at four.
The boy in Chicago, a kindergartener, visited a hospital on Tuesday local time
after having a fever of more than 38 C and was confirmed to be infected with
the new flu on Thursday, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.
There were a number of cases in which people returning to Japan from trips
abroad during the Golden Week holidays tested positive for the influenza A
virus and later tested negative for the new strain.
==Kyodo
